The Time Travel Crew
Chapter 11 : Pomona's proposal in action
At Hogwarts, life was settling back to routine for the students. But the Professors were busy deciding exactly how they were going to go about the Houses United. It wasn't difficult to put up tables and write quizzes, but the entire staff was always on edge when they tried something new.
Dumbledore had already talked the Board of Governors into agreeing and he even tricked them into signing a document that stated that they would never interfere in the proceedings of Hogwarts, at least with respect to the Houses United. This document even kept the Ministry from opposing to the scheme. And to top it all, the project's first date had been fixed on the Sunday before the students went home for the Christmas vacation.
Making the groups was a problem too. Selecting the students without them accusing the staff of partiality was yet another problem. Pomona, Filius, Minerva and Severus tried putting students of similar talents or qualities together but the other professors weren't happy with the combination. Then they tried teaming up students with dissimilar qualities, but the other professors didn't like it either. Nothing seemed to work.
Two weeks before the project could be set into motion, Pomona had suggested to Minerva, Filius and Severus that they retrieve the ring Horcrux from Little Hangleton.
At the moment they were in a Muggle restaurant, sitting on a table for four with heavy charms on themselves and the table. It was a Sunday and Dumbledore instructed the four Heads of House to spend the day together and put away the differences between them if any. Why Dumbledore chose such a day was a mystery - the snow was making such a nuisance of itself.
"It shouldn't take long." Pomona reasoned. "And we will have one less task."
Dumbledore's portrait had told them about all those curses in detail and they had practiced the counter curses so well, Pomona was sure she could perform them in her sleep.
But Severus wouldn't hear of it.
"We can't, Pomona." he said. "It's dangerous. We have no idea where Voldemort is hiding. For all we know, he could be in that very house."
"Isn't he hiding in Albania?" Pomona said, now confused.
Severus shook his head.
"We don't know that. We didn't know that back then either. You realise, Harry said it was after Quirrel died that he fled to Albania. We have no clue as to where he's hiding currently. We shouldn't rush."
"When will we do it then?" Minerva said.
"When we are sure of his location. And that will be -
"-when he's here at school!" Pomona gasped.
"Exactly." Severus said. "Nineteen ninety one it is."
"By then," Filius said thoughtfully, speaking for the first time, "we will have to do everything else - kill the basilisk, procure the locket, the cup and the diadem. And getting into Gringotts will be tricky...If only we could get our hands on the key to the Lestrange Vault."
"Couldn't the House-Elf do the job?" Minerva suggested. "We could then order it keep silent or even obliviate it."
Severus shook his head.
"Goblins are too clever for Elf magic. We will just have to find the key."
Minerva sighed and said, "The last time I visited the cherished heart, Harry asked no, pestered me to inform him before we set off to find or distract the Horcruxes."
"Oh," Filius said. "And what did you say?"
"I told him that he was just a baby, and as long as he was a baby, neither I nor any of you would dare to take him on something so dangerous."
"Tsk, tsk, tsk." Pomona said sadly. "At least I know that I should avoid going to Cokeworth."
Filius chucked, "What are you going to tell him, Severus? You do visit them often."
"I don't know, Filius." Severus sighed. "Harry is a child in every aspect, except for his mind. And if I decide to take a child on a Horcrux hunt, then I deserve to call myself a lunatic."
Minerva said, "Getting back to the topic..."
"You were the one who moved us away from it." Severus pointed out.
"Well, I'm taking you back to it now, aren't I?" Minerva huffed. "How are we going to procure that key?"
Filius threw his hands in the air.
"Let's talk about something else, Minerva. We can think about the key after the first step in our plan for unity is complete."
Yes, back to the plan. Pomona really hoped it would turn out well...
It's curious how fast a day arrives when you are apprehensive of its outcome. Pomona was worried. This day had to go well. It had been her suggestion after all, technically Neville's, but she put it forth to the Headmaster. If the day didn't go as planned, it wasn't that she would be the laughing stock of the classroom, but that would be the end of a very commendable motive...As well as a disappointment for Neville.
Dumbledore had put in his own suggestion, saying that a bit of fresh wintry air would do them all much good and so, a large crystal dome-like structure had been built on the grounds - just besides the lake - overnight. On the floor of the dome, there was a thick blanket of unmelted snow and the roof rained snow flakes lightly, making anybody viewing the dome from the castle resemble it to a large snow globe.
Pomona leviated the forty numbered tables into the dome and then, she entered it through the door. The first thing she realized was Filius's warming charms, which had surpassed themselves for not only the snow on the floor was warm, so were the flakes! What she realized next was the every window in the castle facing the grounds were filled with curious heads all staring at the proceedings. Laughing to herself, Pomona set the tables down on the warm snow, keeping a reasonable distance between them.
Minerva conjured the chairs outside the dome and leviated them in too, placing four around every table. Transfiguration couldn't be performed inside for some reason, but that didn't matter.
The numbering of the tables had had been Justin's idea. When she went to visit him to bring him upto date with the going ons, she expressed her concerns over not finding a suitable method for teaming up the students.
"Make lots." he said immediately. "Let every student pick out their table and in this way, it'll be a fair selection. Select the tables you want to allot only to the boys, the girls and the first, second, third and fourth year students. Then number the tables and make the lots accordingly.
"Now you have forty tables numbered...every year will occupy ten tables, five for the girls and five for the boys. When a student approaches, say a first year Hufflepuff boy, place the five lots assigned for the five first year boys' tables and let him select his team.
"You deal with the Hufflepuffs, Pomona, let the other Heads of House deal with their students. And in this way, there won't be any confusion either!"
And that was what they did.
Pomona, Filius, Minerva and Severus stood besides the dome's crystal door, each leviating eight black top hats, each labelled 1B, 1G, 2B, 2G, 3B, 3G and 4B, 4G, for the boys and girls of the first four years of their respective house.
The girls and boys had to be separated because of a request from Draco who claimed it wouldn't be safe for a Slytherin right now at this tender stage after the war to feel any more odd amongst their peers than they are now.
"You could change teammates next year on and mix them completely and thoroughly, but not now." Draco said. "Let both boys and girls of Slytherin feel comfortable amongst the boys and girls of the other respective houses first... For their own protection. I know, that they will be supervised, but Slytherins hate being found in a weak position."
Nine o'clock was greeted by a trickle of first and second years, who hesitatingly approached their respective Head of house. They put their hands into the hat offered to them and picked up a tightly folded piece of parchment each. As they read the number out, the Head would point out the table to the student as, at the same time, a parchment and quill would appear out of thin air and note down the particular student's allotted table.
By nine thirty, the early birds of third and four year made an appearance and finally at ten o'clock the tables were filled with students. But instead of buzzing as the teachers had expected, the students were silent and uncomfortable.
Dumbledore walked into the dome and stood at the door. He beamed at them and said, "Good morning!"
The students mumbled their reply.
"Don't be so downhearted!" Dumbledore said smiling indulgently. "It's time you made three new friends! Look around! See your other three companions sitting at your table! Ask them their names! Come on! Get into a conversation! Even your Heads of House shall be participating in this activity!"
"I beg your pardon, Albus." Minerva hissed out of surprise and indignation. "What is the meaning of this?"
This had not been a part of their plan, but merely Dumbledore waved away her question and said aloud, "After all, it is us teachers who should be setting the example."
He exited the dome, conjured a table and four chairs, just like the students' and placed it not at the very front or besides the door, but in the midst of the other tables.
"Come, Professors McGonagall, Flitwick, Sprout and Snape, let us not keep our students waiting!"
And it was with a resigned sigh that both, Minerva and Severus followed Pomona and Flitwick to the table.
"As you may have guessed," Dumbledore said as soon as Pomona and the rest had settled down, "We are trying to promote house unity... Tut, tut, tut!" he said silencing the grumbles that announced the students' displeasure at his proclamation. Dumbledore's smile was gone now.
"House unity is important." he said gravely. "How do you believe Hogwarts was built if there was no unity amongst the founders? They had to labour together to put up the castle that still stands before you today. It is true Salazar Slytherin had other ideas in mind, but he was the very reason this castle has so many secret doors and passages!
"Helga Hufflepuff gave every door it's characteristic manner of opening! It is rumoured that she created every one of those tripping steps and the moving staircases. Godric Gryffindor saw to it that the grounds were beautified. When I was a small lad, I was told that he loved being outdoors and he preferred teaching his students outside! Rovena Ravenclaw saw to it that the castle would always remain standing and that it always remained hidden to prying eyes. The charmed roof in the Great Hall was her doing as well.
"So you see, if they said, I don't want to help you or, I don't want you to help me or I can't bear to look at your face, or you are absolutely revolting, the Hogwarts we know and have grown to love would have never been built!
"Over the years, we have forgotten what it means to be united, we forget that when united, we can face anything, come what may! We forget that we have others to rely on, that we're not alone, that we have friends who can help you out in case of a crisis.
"You need to stand united. Think of what has taken place as a consequence of our own pride! May it never be repeated again! And therefore, I, Albus Dumbledore, in a bid to bring into effect an age old tradition, officially announce the commencement of the Houses United!"
Pomona, Filius, Minerva and Severus broke the silence by clapping politely and very slowly the the students at the tables and the students peering out from the windows and the front doors clapped too. While both Pomona and Filius looked cheerful, Minerva put on a grim expression face and Severus wore his typical sneer.
Dumbledore raised his hand and respectfully everyone became silent.
"For the first part of this Sunday's event, you will all get to know the members of your little team. Never forget them for you will be working with them whenever we hold these events. Talk to each other, get to know your likes and dislikes, ask one another their birthdays and their favourite colours... in other words, you will spend the rest of this hour getting to know each other."
With a benign smile on his face, Dumbledore flicked his wand and four steaming mugs of hot chocolate with marshmallows appeared on every table. With that, he and the rest of the staff, putting aside the Heads of house, strolled around in the dome.
It was but fifteen minutes later that half of the rest of the school knocked at the dome's door and asked to participate in the event. Very happily Dumbledore conceded and Pomona, Filius, Minerva and Severus set to making more lots and putting them in their respective hats.
Dumbledore placed thirty more tables with four chairs each in the magically expanding dome and numbered them accordingly. Then the Heads of house leviated six labelled hats each and the students picked out one of the tables allotted to them and happily sat down with a mug of hot chocolate with marshmallows.
The Heads of House settled back at their table and began talking about various topics, none however included time traveling or Horcruxes.
At five minutes to eleven, Dumbledore called for silence and the soft buzzing around Pomona ceased.
"And now, my dear students, your Heads of House have worked very hard to create for you a magnificent worksheet. You will now be solving it - don't worry, it's nothing to tedious and nothing you haven't come across - and you will have to solve it with your teammates. Oh, yes, let us not forget your Heads of House." Pomona felt a sense of foreboding."I have personally set a worksheet for them -"
"What!" Severus choked out as he stared ahead with a very annoyed expression.
"- You have two hours to complete it. Your time starts now."
He waved his wand and a roll of parchment appeared at the students tables and everyone's mugs were refilled. But at Pomona's table, the roll of parchment appeared to be thicker than the students'.
Minerva undid the string and opened the parchment.
It was blank.
But out of it fell a piece of parchment that Severus picked up, he read it with a pinched face and with a long suffering sigh he passed it to Filius who burst out laughing after reading it. After composing himself, he read it aloud:
"Consider an island, filled up with trees, not unlike those in the forbidden forest. Half of the forest is guarded by dragons, manticores and a blinded basilisk and the other half is surrounded by lions, crocodiles and various poisonous serpents that seem to be immune to any spell cast on them.
"There, however, is a clearing in the center of the forest the size of greenhouse three, occupying a twelfth of the island. Growing in this clearing are the very plants growing in the said greenhouse along with an apple and a pear tree, a few plants whose roots are the vegetables and a beautifully yielding pumpkin climber.
"Somehow, Filius Flitwick, Minerva McGonagall, Severus Snape and Pomona Sprout have unfortunately landed in this clearing and the magic of this island prevents them from disapperating. They can however, use their wands and they have sent a Patronus with a message for help. Most inopportunely, help will reach to them in two months at the earliest.
"All the poor Professors have with them besides their wands is a cauldron and a big bag of lemon drops. Fill up this ten foot long parchment with the measures they will take to survive."
Pomona couldn't help but burst out into helpless giggles.
Then it took five minutes of arguments and deciding what the appropriate punishment for the Headmaster would be and who would get the honours of taking revenge, but when they got to working on the essay, Pomona had to admit that she was having fun.
They gave a lengthy description about how Filius would use his charms to provide them with protection that would render them invisible to the beasts and then they wrote about how Minerva would transfigure the nearest tree into a cabin for four and how Pomona and Severus would keep themselves busy by respectively tending to the plants in the clearing and using those plants in useful potions.
Then when it came for food, since they were all paltry when it came to cooking, they would merely summon a Hogwarts House-elf with their meal and when they were, done, they would all grab hold of the House-elf, their wands, the cauldron and the large bag of lemon drops and side-long apparate to Hogsmead. Then they would head up to the Headmaster's office and give him the sweets as an early Christmas present.
That used up the entire parchment supplied to them, of course, that held a lot of humorous comments from all four of them, but in the end, Pomona had to admit that she enjoyed herself.
At one, Dumbledore collected the rolls of parchment and - as a reward for the students cooperation - with a flick of his wand four menus appeared at everyone's table and they had to order the meal of their choice by naming it aloud just like the Yule Ball in nineteen ninety four of their time.
Everything went beautifully and Pomona was relieved. So, Neville was right, there was hope for unity after all.
To be continued...
I really hope you enjoyed it!